Mu Anjin sat lazily in the chair, waiting patiently.

Is she still crying?

The servant said, "He seems to have stopped crying!"

Mu Anjin was somewhat surprised. That woman, besides crying, all she knew was eating; she was utterly useless. Now, she suddenly had some backbone?

"Stop crying? Why aren't you crying anymore? But I've gotten used to her crying all the time."

"Yes, I understand."

The servant turned and went out, instructing the person watching Xu Jiao'er at the door: "Go in and slap her until she cries out."

The person guarding her was Xu Jiao'er's former maid. She was somewhat hesitant, but she still agreed, because if she showed her unwillingness and replaced her with someone else, the princess would suffer even more.

The door was pushed open again, and Xu Jiao'er was sitting on the floor eating pastries. She looked up blankly at the maid, forcing a smile.

"princess."

The maid turned her head away, not daring to meet her clear, watery eyes.

“I heard everything.”

Although they spoke in low voices, the drafty door provided no sound insulation whatsoever.

"Could you wait until I finish this pastry before you start?"

Before the maid could answer, she continued, "Let's eat together? This was given to me by my good friends here. Although I rarely spend time with them, they all care about me."

Seeing Xu Jiao'er's outstretched hand, the maid didn't know whether she should take it.

"It's delicious."

Xu Jiao'er continued.

The maid nodded, took the pastries, and ate them, saying, "They are indeed very delicious."

Xu Jiao'er looked at her, smiling brightly: "Is it until I cry?"

The maid was caught off guard by the sudden change of topic: "Uh, yes, Your Highness, I'll be gentler. Please get your emotions in order, cry faster, and cry out loud."

Xu Jiao'er felt a surge of warmth in her heart as she looked at the young maid who was a few years younger than her and thought so much about her.

"It's alright, just do your thing. If it weren't for you, I don't know how much more I would have suffered."

The maidservant stretched out the hand that had just received the pastries from Xu Jiao'er, and raised it tremblingly. Just as she was about to strike, she heard the door being kicked open.

Why is there still no movement?

It's the servant from Mu Anjin's study just now.

"I'll do it."

He shoved the maid aside and then raised his hand to slap Xu Jiao'er hard across the face.

He was already imagining that when he slapped her, Xu Jiao'er would burst into tears and beg him to stop. But then, as the pain shot through his own hand, Xu Jiao'er seemed to lose all feeling of pain and just sat there on the ground, unresponsive. She even tilted her head back and gave him a smirk.

The servant immediately became furious and slapped him again.

With a snap, blood instantly trickled from the corner of his mouth.

The maid's eyes instantly filled with tears. She bit her lip tightly, afraid that she would blurt out, "Your Highness, just cry out loud."

Xu Jiao'er wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, then looked up at him, still curling her lips into a smile.

The servants were at a loss. Given the princess's usual timid nature, she would have cried her heart out after these two blows, but now she was completely silent. If she wasn't crying, should they continue hitting her?

The maid, fighting back tears, said, "Judging from this, the princess doesn't seem to be planning to cry. Otherwise, I'll do it; I'm afraid it will tire you out."